The National Working Committee (NWC) of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has denounced a recent Federal High Court ruling in Abia, which ordered the takeover of the party’s administration by Dr. Boniface Aniebonam.
The NNPP has called the judgment a “fraud” and declared it legally ineffective.
According to a statement released in Abuja by NNPP National Publicity Secretary Ladipo Johnson, the court’s judgment was issued “per incuriam”—a term used to describe a ruling made without regard to relevant law and, therefore, invalid. Johnson explained that the party’s constitution, which the judgment was allegedly based on, was amended on April 6, 2024. Additionally, those claiming to be Board of Trustees (BOT) members, including Dr. Aniebonam, had already been expelled from the NNPP, a decision upheld by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The court in Abia had ordered an immediate takeover of the NNPP’s BOT by a group chaired by Dr. Aniebonam. Johnson, however, asserted that the Abia court lacked jurisdiction over the matter, as no official summons or documents were served to the NNPP at its registered office. “None of the authentic National Working Committee officers, whose names and addresses are registered with INEC as required by the CFRN 1999 (as amended), received the process leading to this judgment,” he stated.
Johnson emphasized that the registered office of the NNPP, as listed with INEC, is located at No. 11 Mahatma Gandhi Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, as mandated by Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2022.
Furthermore, Johnson pointed out that a Federal High Court in Abuja had previously ruled that the so-called BOT members in question were officially expelled from the NNPP and had no legitimate authority within the party. The court also affirmed that the BOT is merely an advisory body with no executive powers, making the Abia ruling a contradiction to existing judgments.
In his concluding remarks, Johnson described the Abia judgment as a “spurious” decision obtained by fraudulent means. “To the extent that it contradicts an existing Federal High Court ruling from the Abuja division, this Abia judgment has no legal standing whatsoever,” he declared.
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